Summer showdown set for first Japan heavyweight title bout time since 1957

Japan’s No. 1 ranked heavyweight fighter Kyotaro Fujimoto will face off against Uganda-born Okello Peter for the Japanese heavyweight crown on July 25 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, the East Japan Boxing Association announced Tuesday.

It will be the first match to decide a heavyweight Japan champion since Noboru Kataoka became the division’s inaugural champ in May 1957. The Japan Boxing Commission vacated the heavyweight division eight months later when no one appeared to challenge Kataoka for the title.

Fujimoto, 26, stopped France’s Fabrice Aurieng in the seventh round last Wednesday to book the match against the 40-year-old Peter, who is currently the second-highest ranked in Japan.

The Osaka native is 6-1 with four knockouts in his seven professional fights. Peter, whose last win came in a fourth-round stoppage of American Freddie Miller on Nov. 11, 2012, holds a record of 21-6 (19 KOs).